Cairo – Mubasher: Gold reserves in Egypt rose in August to a new record high as concerns over the repercussions of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic boosted safe-haven investment demand for gold, raising the country’s gold reserves by $1.21 billion over the first eight months of 2020 from $3.301 billion at the end of 2019.

The most populous Arab nation’s gold reserves grew by $15 million or 0.3% month-on-month (MoM) to $4.52 billion in August, hitting its highest level, compared to $4.505 billion in July, according to data released by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

Year-on-year (YoY), gold’s contribution to the country’s foreign reserves surged by 36% or $1.19 billion from $3.324 billion in August 2019.

Globally, the precious metal lost about 0.4% in August, recording its worst performance in five months.

Egypt’s net international reserves increased by $52 million to $38.366 billion at the end of August from $38.314 billion in July.

In the meantime, the contribution of foreign currencies to Egypt’s international reserves grew to $33.63 billion in August from $33.5 billion in July.

Year-on-year, foreign currency reserves fell by $7.6 billion or 18.5% from $41.3 billion in August 2019.